DEFINING DIRECTIONAL DRILLING
The Art of Controlling
Wellbore Trajectory
Kate Mantle
Directional Drilling Advisor
The practice of directional drilling traces its roots to the 1920s, when
basic wellbore surveying methods were introduced. These methods
alerted drillers to the fact that supposedly vertical wells were actually
deflecting in unwanted directions. To combat this deviation, drillers
devised techniques to keep the well path as vertical as possible. The
same techniques were later employed to deliberately deflect the well
path to intersect hard-to-access reserves.
The rst intentionally drilled directional wells provided remedial solu-
tions to drilling problems: straightening crooked wellbores, sidetracking
around stuck pipe and drilling relief wells to kill blowouts (below). Directional
drillers used rudimentary survey instruments to orient the wellbore. By the
1930s, a controlled directional well was drilled in Huntington Beach,
California, USA, from an onshore location to target offshore oil sands.
Today, operators use sophisticated drilling assemblies to drill complex
geologic structures identied from 3D seismic data. Previously unreachable
reserves have become accessible and economical to produce.
Directional drilling includes three main specialized applications:
extended-reach drilling (ERD), multilateral drilling and short-radius drilling.
Operators have used ERD to access offshore reservoirs from land locations,
sometimes eliminating the need for a platform. As of 2013, the worlds longest
ERD well is the 12,345-m [40,502-ft] well drilled from Sakhalin Island, Russia,
to the offshore Odoptu eld. Multilateral drilling helps increase wellbore con-
tact with hydrocarbon-producing zones by branching multiple extensions off
a single borehole. The rst multilateral well was drilled in 1953 at Bashkiria
eld, Bashkortostan Republic, Russia. The main borehole had nine lateral
branches that increased penetration of the pay zone by 5.5 times and produc-
tion by 17-fold, and cost only 1.5 times that of a conventional well. Short-
radius drilling produces wells with a curve of 44-m [144-ft] radius or smaller.
Principles of Directional Drilling
Most directional wells begin as vertical wellbores. At a designated depth,
known as the kickoff point (KOP), the directional driller deects the well
path by increasing well inclination to begin the build section. Surveys taken
during the drilling process indicate the direction of the bit and the toolface,
or orientation of the measurement sensors in the well. The directional
driller constantly monitors these measurements and adjusts the trajectory
of the wellbore as needed to intercept the next target along the well path.
Sidetracking
Multiple wellbores Offshore targets Relief well Horizontal well
> Directional drilling applications. Reservoirs that are not readily accessible
from available surface locations can be exploited through directional drilling.
Oileld Review Winter 2013/2014: 25, no. 4.
Copyright 2014 Schlumberger.
For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Steven Hough, Stonehouse, England;
and Richard Hawkins, Midland, Texas, USA.
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Initially, directional drilling involved a simple rotary bottomhole assem-
bly (BHA) and the manipulation of parameters such as weight on bit (WOB),
rotary speed and BHA geometry to achieve a desired trajectory. Changes in
BHA stiffness, stabilizer placement and gauge, rotary speed, WOB, hole
diameter, hole angle and formation characteristics all affect the directional
capability and drilling efciency of a BHA.
By varying stabilizer placement in the drillstring, directional drillers can
alter side forces acting on the bit and the BHA, causing it to increase, main-
tain or decrease inclination, commonly referred to as building, holding or
dropping angle, respectively (below).
To build angle, the directional driller uses a BHA with a full gauge near-bit
stabilizer, another stabilizer between 15 to 27 m [50 to 90 ft] above the
rst and a third stabilizer about 9 m [30 ft] above the second. This BHA
acts as a fulcrum, exerting a positive side force at the bit.
To hold angle, the directional driller uses a BHA with 3 to 5 stabilizers,
placed about 9 m apart. This packed BHA is designed to exert no net side force.
To drop angle, the directional driller uses a BHA with the rst stabilizer
9 to 27 m behind the bit. This BHA acts as a pendulum, exerting a negative
side force at the bit.
During well planning, the directional driller must consider several fac-
tors to determine the required trajectory, particularly dogleg severity
(DLS)the rate of change in wellbore trajectory, measured in degrees per
30 m [100 ft]as well as the capabilities of the BHA, drillstring, logging
tools and casing to pass through the doglegs. Drilling limitations include rig
specications such as maximum torque and pressure available from surface
systems. Geologic features such as faults or formation changes need to be
Fulcrum Assembly Pendulum Assembly
Stabilizer
ing
ild e
Bu angl g
Near-bit stabilizer pin
r op gle
D an
> Using the BHA to change angle. Bending of the pipe above a bit
inuences borehole deviation. Through strategic placement of drill collars
and stabilizers, the directional driller can increase or decrease exibility
and bowing of the BHA to build or drop angle.
Oileld Review
carefully considered; for example, very soft formations may limit build rates,
and formation dip may cause a bit to walk, or drift laterally. Local knowl-
edge of drilling behavior enables the directional driller to derive the correct
lead angle needed to intercept the target.
The skill of the directional driller lies in projecting ahead, estimating
the spatial position of the bit and, based on the specic circumstances,
deciding what course to take to intercept the target or targets. In the early
days of directional drilling, a manual slide rule device was used to calculate
the toolface angle required to drill from the last survey station to a target.
Today, computer programs perform the same function.
Directional Drilling Operations
To steer a well to its target, directional drillers employ the following techniques:
JettingA jetting assembly provides directional capability while drill-
ing through loose or unconsolidated formations. Jetting bits are roller cone
bits with either a large extended nozzle in place of one of the cones, or with
one large nozzle and two small nozzles. The large nozzle provides the high
side reference, and the well path is deected by alternately sliding or rotat-
ing the drillstring.
NudgingThis technique is often used in tophole sections, where sev-
eral wellbores in close proximity to one another can pose magnetic interfer-
ence issues and increase the risk of collision with other wellbores. The well
path is nudged, or deected, from vertical to pass the hazardthen steered
back to vertical when the hazard has been passed.
Kicking offDiverting a well path from one trajectory to another is
called kicking off. The number of KOPs in a single well path depends on the
complexity of the planned trajectory.
SidetrackingDeecting a well path from an existing wellbore, or side-
tracking, is performed for a variety of reasons such as avoiding a well col-
lapse, a zone of instability or a section of previously drilled wellbore
containing unretrieved sh (junk or tools left in the well). This technique is
also used to initiate multilateral drilling operations. Operators also drill ver-
tical pilot holes to conrm reservoir true vertical depth (TVD), then side-
track horizontally to maximize reservoir exposure. They sometimes
sidetrack wells when expected targets are not encountered.
Whipstock operationsA whipstock is a wedge-shaped steel tool
deployed downhole to mechanically alter the well path. The whipstock is
oriented to deect the bit from the original borehole at a slight angle and in
the direction of the desired azimuth for the sidetrack. It can be used in
cased or open holes.
GeosteeringGeosteering uses formation evaluation data obtained
while drillingprimarily through measurements-while-drilling (MWD) or
logging-while-drilling (LWD) sensorsto provide real-time input for steer-
ing decisions in horizontal and high-angle wells. Recent improvements in
telemetry allow MWD and LWD data to be transmitted faster and with
greater data density than in the past, greatly increasing the accuracy with
which the well trajectory can be controlled.
Advances in Directional Drilling
The development of reliable mud motors provided an important advance in
directional drilling technology. Wellbore direction could then be controlled
using a bent motor housing, which was oriented to point the drill bit in the
desired direction. Mud motors use the mud pumped through a rotor and stator
assembly to turn the bit without rotating the drillstring from the surface. By
alternating intervals of rotating mode and sliding mode, the directional driller
Winter 2013/2014
Hybrid rota
ry st
Conventiona eerable system
l rotary stee
rable system
Kickoff p
oint
Deeper
kickoff
point
Landing
point
TD
Landing TD
point
> Directional capabilities. A hybrid system lets the operator kick off from
greater depths, yet land sooner in the reservoir zone than was possible with
conventional rotary steerable systems.
can control the wellbore trajectory and steer it in the desired direction. In
rotating mode, the drilling rigs rotary table or its topdrive rotates the entire
drillstring to transmit power to the bit. By contrast, in sliding mode, the bend
and bit are rst oriented in the desired direction, then the downhole mud
motor alone powers the bit, with no rotation of the drillstring above the bit.
Drilling motors and rotary steerable systems (RSSs) presented direc-
tional drillers with an efcient way to steer wellsand to do so with greater
accuracy. The RSS enables wells to be drilled directionally while the drill-
string continuously rotates. The advantages of this method are improved
well cleaning through rotation, a smoother wellbore and more accurate
directional control. To steer the RSS, the directional driller transmits com-
mands from the surface using pressure uctuations in the mud column.
Today, hybrid RSSs use pads inside the tool to push against an internal
sleeve that pivots and points the bit in the desired direction. These tools can
deliver DLS of up to 18/30 m. Hybrid RSS tools enable directional drillers
to kick off from vertical at greater depths and land, or transition the well to
horizontal, more quickly than was previously possible. This technique
increases wellbore exposure to the reservoir (above).
Advanced steering systems use a system-matched mud motor in combi-
nation with an RSS tool below it. This BHA design enables higher revolu-
tions per minute at the bit, enhanced steering control and increased rate
of penetration.
Future Developments
The introduction of fully automated downhole control systems is likely
within the near future. Such advances, however, do not herald the removal
of directional drillers from the process; their experience will always be
needed to oversee the full scope of directional drilling operations. The
future promises to be fast moving and technologically groundbreaking for
this highly specialized niche within the oil and gas industry.
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